Moroccan Spiced Lamb Shanks

We know, we know. It’s been 2 months since we blogged. We have cooked a few things which we’ve blogged previously in the last 2 months but, no matter how much it shouldn’t, sometimes life gets busy. However, we are the half-assed gourmets. We therefore apologise to everyone that reads this drivel that we neglected to blog the fish finger sandwich.

Today, for the first time in a long time, our kitchen smelled of proper cooking. I’m starting with one of the easiest dishes I’ve cooked in ages. No surprise to anyone who reads this blog regularly, it comes from a slow cooker cookbook, Sunil Vijayakar’s ‘Slow Cooker curries’.

The recipe below feeds 4 but as usual with our massive slow cooker, I doubled it.

Recipe:
2 tblsp olive oil
4 lamb shanks
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 large onion (chopped)
400g tinned chopped tomotoes
1 tsp salt
250ml (approx) chicken stock or water

Method:
Heat the oil in a large pan and brown the lamb shanks. Remove from the pan and set to the side.
Reduce the heat slightly and fry the spices lightly for 1-2 minutes. Add the onions and fry for a further 4-5 minutes.
Add the onions to the slow cooker. Place the lamb shanks on top, making sure they stand together in a single layer. Add the tomatoes, salt and enough stock or water to almost cover the lamb shanks. Put the lid on and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
Serve with couscous (and Harissa).

Optional kitchen porn:
Crockpot slow cooker

Chicken, Sausage and Rice

While building the new European potato bread mountain today (our freezer is full), the slow cooker was bubbling along merrily with this simple and delicious treat from our ‘easy slow cooker’ book.

Recipe:
1 fresh or dried bay leaf
A few sprigs of fresh thyme and parsley
1 tbsp olive oil
8 chicken thighs
6 pork sausages
1 onion (chopped)
1 red pepper (sliced)
2 celery sticks (chopped)
3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
125ml dry wine (red or white)
300ml chicken stock
400g tin chopped tomatoes
370g paella rice
200g peas (fresh or frozen and thawed)
Salt and pepper

Method:
Tie the bay leaf, thyme and parsley together with string.
Heat the oil and brown the chicken in a large frying pan. Work in batches and then set aside and season with salt. Brown the sausages, cut them into 3-4 pieces and set aside with the chicken.
Arrange the onion, pepper, celery, garlic and chilli flakes in the slow cooker. Pour in the wine, stock, tomatoes and a pinch of salt and stir well. Add the chicken and sausage and tuck the herbs in the top.
Cover and cook on high for 3 hours. Add the rice, replace the lid and cook for another 20 minutes. Put the peas on top and add a little more water if necessary. Cover and cook for a final 10 minutes. Remove the herb bundle, fluff up the rice to mix in the peas and serve.

Optional kitchen porn:
Crockpot slow cooker

Slow Cooker Red-Cooked Pork

I have to say, in a kitchen almost too full of gadgets, the slow cooker is just freakin’ awesome. You put a bunch of stuff in, you walk away for several hours, and upon your return you’re greeted by a meal that looks deceptively like you’ve put consideration and effort in to. No one need ever know how unspeakably lazy you really are.

This porky treat is a beautiful slow braise that gets a gorgeous colour from the vast amounts of soy sauce in it, but it’s actually not overly salty when it’s done.

The original recipe is from a book called ‘Easy Slow Cooker’ but I’ve doubled the recipe to feed about 8-10 and made a few worthwhile tweaks.

Ingredients:
2kg pork loin, tied
300 ml Mirin or Chinese rice wine or normal cooking sherry
500 ml chicken stock
300 ml dark soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 cinnamon sticks
4 cm piece of ginger, sliced
Zest of 2 small oranges
2 whole star anise
6 spring onions, cut into 3 or 4 pieces

Method:
Put everything but the pork in the slow cooker
Add the pork
Cook on high for 6+ hours

Serve cut into thick slices over rice or noodles. Would be amazing with steamed bok choi or sesame green beans.

Optional kitchen porn:
Crock Pot slow cooker – honestly, just get one

Kashmiri butter chicken

Another one from 200 Slow Cooker Recipes. It costs £4.99. Just buy the damn thing. Page 64. Also, buy yourself a damn Crock Pot. It doesn’t need to be a 6 litre one like ours, but just get one and improve the basic quality of your life.

Anyhoozle, here’s what you need:

2 onions, quartered

3 garlic cloves

Thumb sized chunk of ginger, peeled

1 hot chilli, deseeded

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 tbsp sunflower oil

1 oz butter

1 tsp crushed cumin seeds

1 tsp crushed fennel seeds

4 crushed cardamom pods

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

300 ml chicken stock

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp tomato puree

5 tbsp double cream

Salt

Method:

Blend onions, garlic, ginger, and chilli in food processor.

Cut chicken thighs into 4 pieces. Heat oil in your biggest frying pan and brown chicken over high heat. You’ll probably need to do this in a few batches. Transfer to a plate.

Add butter to the frying pan. When melted, add onion paste over medium heat and cook until it begins to color. Stir in crushed and ground spices and cook for a minute. Mix in the stock, sugar, tomato purée and stock. Bring to the boil, stirring

Put the chicken and the sauce mixture into your slow cooker, cover, and cook on low for 5-7 hours.

Stir in the double cream. Serve with sprigs of coriander and basmati rice.

Optional kitchen porn:

Crock Pot
Le Creuset mortar and pestle
Bosch hand blender

Pork, Orange and Star Anise

It’s been a while since we blogged a new recipe. Apologies to those of you who have been waiting on tenterhooks. We’ve had a busy November and we’ve cooked a lot of old favourites recently which we have already blogged about.

This recipe is from Hamlyn 200 slow cooker recipes by Sara Lewis and is another all day affair. Cooking time is 8-10 hours but it’s worth the wait. Our house smells amazing too.

Recipe:
1 tblsp sunflower oil
4 pork shoulder steaks or boneless spare rib chops
1 onion (chopped)
2 tblsp plain flour
450 ml chicken stock
Grated rind and juice of 1 orange
3 tblsp plum sauce
2 tblsp soy sauce
3-4 whole star anise
1 dried red chilli (halved) (optional but we added it)
Salt and pepper

Method:
Heat oil in a frying pan and brown the meat. Remove the pork from the pan and set put in slow cooker. Fry onions in the pan for about 5 minutes, then add the flour and stir in. Add the stock, soy sauce, plum sauce (we used plum jam), star anise, chilli, orange juice and season. Bring to the boil.

Pour the sauce over the pork in the slow cooker and leave on low for 8-10 hours.

That’s it. We served ours over rice with some green beans tossed in sesame oil, sesame seeds and a sprinkling of dried chilli flakes.

Optional kitchen porn:
Crockpot slow cooker